Hip Hop Celebrates Martin Luther King!
Club Excel hip hop group celebrates Martin Luther King by making a rap.

By Velisha Guillaume and Cristina Benavidez

Highlands Club Excel Hip Hop group was hard at work before the Martin Luther King celebration. They showed their enthusiasm by making songs about Dr. King.  Some of them were rapping to the music. Some of them were even nodding their head. Some people were writing parts for the raps. Most people seem to enjoy the music.

"Making an album is a good idea," said Melward Rattigan, 12, a seventh grade member of the Hip Hop group, adding that Hip Hop instructor "Cornell [Carelock] is a good guy and fun! He is a good teacher!" Melward, who is a rapper working on an album about Martin Luther King Jr., says he will join this group again to continue making rap songs.

We thought that the hip hop group is so cool because they are making their own album.  They are learning to rap on the Microphone like professionals.  Cornell is a calm instructor who lets the students do their own thing.  Also, the album their making is all about their feelings of Doctor King.

"I cannot express my feelings,"said Randy Patterson, 13, grade 7 about his Club Excel experience.  Randy says that, "Cornell is cool." Especially since Cornell, the hip hop director is very calm and patient with people, especially when it comes to music.  He was helping people record their music for the CD.

Randy wrote a part for the Martin Luther King Rap. "He fought for everyone's right/ black or white/ living in danger every day/ he came closer to seeing the light./ But that didn't stop him/ that didn't drop him./ Seizing for the opportunity."

Randy obviously loves music. He says, "I love music with a passion," and so do a lot of student in Club Excel.

Club Excel's New Technology Coordinator

By Doyle Branche 13 8th grade

With four degrees worth of education and 3 kids, Kesa Fair is the new, experienced technology coordinator for Club Excel.  Kesa has been the new coordinator for about 2 months now and thinks that Club Excel is "a great, positive and motivating program for the students."  She also thinks that it "offers the students a lot of opportunities outside of the school system".  As the Technology Coordinator, she organizes programs, supervises teaching, comes up with offers, and acquires supplies.

Kesa has earned her degrees from The New York Institute of technology, Monroe college, and the Mercy college.  Her interests are reading, gardening, hiking with her children, playing tennis, shopping, cooking, and playing internet games.

Club Excel Supports White Plains Basketball

Photo Caption by Minuse Thelusma, 13-years-old, 8th Grade

Club Excel is an after school activity that does many different things after school.  Today on January 13, 2005 we attended the boys' basketball game.  This game was White Plains Middle School vs. Mamaroneck Middle School.  We cheered our White Plains players, but unfortunately they lost.  At these games we have lots of fun and enjoy watching our boys play real hard.  We attend basketball games very often and cheer both the girls and the boys.  Going to these games gives us something fun to do during the afternoons.

Club Excel Has Its First Dance

By Samantha Anderson, 11, sixth grade and Dominique Hudson, 12, sixth grade

The first dance for all Club Excel members was held on Friday January 21st in Highlands Middle School's south gym.  It was packed.  It began with talking and eating, next there was a raffle, then a student performance, and finally there were four long rounds of intense boy vs. girl dance competition.

At first the dance was slow.  People were mostly standing in large groups talking.  There was food in the cafeteria, including 2 large cakes, chips, and soda.  After talking and eating for an hour and a half, everyone hurried to the south gym for the raffles.  The raffles prizes consisted of a 25 dollar gift card for Best buy, and two movie tickets .

After the raffle, seventh grade rapper Keith Brunson, a.k.a Killa Whale, made the crowd go wild.  He set the place on fire with his rhymes.  "This is all about Killer Whale/ a bad boy but he never went to jail" he said. After the rap was over, the boy/girl dance started.

It started when Club Excel's Assistant Director, Dan Isenberg, got on the mic and told the girls to go to the left of the gym and the boys to the right. Dan made group leader Dante Hudson team captain of the boys and group leader Tatiana Chang captain of the girls. In the first, round five people from each team came out to shake their tail feathers when the DJ started the music. In the second round, Dan got the group leaders Jacquel, Fred, Tatiana and Kia Mac involved. Then there were only three dancers from each group. Some groups of students made really unstoppable teams.  By the third round Dan even had one parent from each team dancing.

This was a very exciting event, because this was the very first dance for Club Excel.  It was also the first time Club Excel  hired a DJ.  The DJ's name was Dhariel Tatis, a 16-year-old who attends White Plains High School.  He's been DJing for 5 years. When asked  why he liked to DJ at schools, and  what made the dance at Club Excel better than other events that he DJs at he said "it was very exciting to see students dancing," and that the Club Excel members were "more enthusiastic" than the people at other events.

"excel after the bell"